The Black Keys: ‘We didn’t want to be rock stars’

Dan Auerbach, frontman of blues duo The Black Keys, has said in a new interview that he and drummer Patrick Carney 'didn't want to be rock stars'.

Speaking to Interview Magazine, Auerbach said that success doesn't matter to the band. He explained: "We don't have expectations or dreams, because those will always just bite you in the ass. We're very content with where we are and the speed we've been going. The only way we got through was by keeping our expectations very low. We didn't want to be rock stars."

Dan Auerbach, frontman of blues duo The Black Keys, has said in a new interview that he and drummer Patrick Carney ‘didn’t want to be rock stars’.

Speaking to Interview Magazine, Auerbach said that success doesn’t matter to the band. He explained: “We don’t have expectations or dreams, because those will always just bite you in the ass. We’re very content with where we are and the speed we’ve been going. The only way we got through was by keeping our expectations very low. We didn’t want to be rock stars.”

He added: “It’s not about success. Whatever happens, it doesn’t matter. I would like to not go bankrupt or get some incurable disease, but other than that, I’m just happy to keep going.”

In the same interview, Auerbach said that he wasn’t “typical frontman material”, stating that he doesn’t crave the spotlight. “Some people love being on stage and really open up, and I’m sort of the opposite of that,” he said. “I don’t crave the spotlight. I’m still not comfortable even talking on stage.”

The Black Keys recently featured on a brand new episode of celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain’s cult travel show No Reservations. The programme aired in the United States earlier this week.

The Black Keys headlined the first weekend of Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in California on April 13 – and return to the site this Friday night (April 20) for the festival’s second weekend.